NEWS

It's official. The city will cut the ribbon on the Old Tombigbee River Bridge on Old Highway 82 at 10 a.m. on Oct. 18.
The city issued a press release Wednesday verifying the pedestrian walkway would be ready in time for the BBQ & Blues Festival scheduled to begin an hour after the ceremony.

The Columbus Police Department has a new Assistant Chief of Police. Tony Carleton was hired by a unanimous vote Wednesday afternoon during a specially called meeting of the city council.
Carleton will begin at the department on Nov. 1, earning a salary of $65,000 pending approval by the civil service commission.

Lowndes County's unemployment rate in August was 9.3 percent -- two tenths of a point up from August 2012, but the second lowest monthly showing in 2013 overall.
That percentage represents an estimated 2,530 people actively looking for a job, according to statistics from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

By the end of the year the Golden Triangle Regional Airport will have repaved its taxiway and widened the exits and entrances to its runway.
The renovation project will cost $3.43 million, according to Mike Hainsey, the airport's executive director.

Forty state attorneys general, including Mississippi's Jim Hood, co-signed a letter this week imploring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue more-stringent regulations on electronic cigarette advertising, ingredients and sales by Oct. 31.

Oktibbeha County's unemployment rate in August was nearly 1 percent lower than July's estimate of 9.7.
August's rate came in at 8.8 percent.
That percentage represents an estimated 1,760 people actively looking for a job, according to statistics from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.